Steering Box Rebuild - Steering You Straight

Here's what we found in our box-the lube was a gooey sludge.

Use a punch and hammer to loosen the worm bearing adjuster locknut.

With the locknut off, simply screw out the adjuster.

Next, extricate the wormshaft and ball nut.

Over a pan, remove the ball-guide clamp, ball guides, and balls, so that the ball nut can be taken off of the wormshaft. Set all of the parts aside for cleaning and inspection.

Remove the Pitman-shaft seal and the wormshaft seal using a seal puller.

Drive out the upper worm-bearing race from the case using a steel punch and a hammer. Tap it from side to side and the race will come out without much trouble.

Here's the Pitman-shaft bushing showing the seam and jigsaw-like tab that held it together. To remove this bushing from the housing, wedge the point of a chisel behind the bushing at the seam and pry it away from the edge, like we did. Then use needle-nosed pliers to pull it out. Save the bushing-you'll need to measure it to properly cut the new bushing to size.

Thoroughly clean the case and all of the small parts; inspect everything, including the inside surfaces of the case for damage or excessive wear.

After prying off the lower-bearing retainer on the worm-bearing adjuster and removing the bearing...

...use a puller to remove the bearing race from the worm-bearing adjuster. Note: A replacement retainer is not included in the rebuild kit, but it isn't necessary because the bearing is snuggly sandwiched between the end of the wormshaft and the worm-bearing adjuster.

The rebuild kit from Harry's Steering Gear Repair contains upper and lower wormshaft ball bearings and races, a side-cover gasket, a Pitman-shaft seal, a wormshaft seal, and two Pitman shaft bushings. (We only needed one bushing for this box, but some truck and Corvette Saginaw boxes require the second one, which is why it's included.)